Former Zipper devs join the Takedown team

April 2012 was a sad month for the PlayStation Nation, as we waved a solemn goodbye to a storied developer in Zipper Interactive. Two months after the first-party studio's closure, we are happy to report that a few more tactical masters are getting back on their feet. Serellan LLC, a newly-formed indie games studio, has hired former Zipper employees Mark Nicolino and Reed Gonsalves to work on Serellan's debut title, Takedown.

Nicolino and Gonsalves served Zipper as Senior Artist and Gameplay Engineer respectively, and both will be performing similar roles in the development of Takedown. Serellan has described the game, which was successfully funded through Kickstarter, as a “thinking-person's shooter” with a focus on slow, measured combat to extinguish small groups of targets in intense situations. Apparently, the real-life 2010 operation by Russian Special Forces to take back a hijacked oil tanker from pirates exemplifies what players can expect from missions in Takedown.

Serellan has already picked up notable talent from companies like Ubisoft, Red Storm Entertainment, and Bungie, so I'm excited to see what former Zipper talent can bring to the table. Interestingly, Serellan specifically cited Zipper's experience developing for “a difficult platform” as part of what made the hiring decision easy. PC is the lead platform for Takedown development, but PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions will come later.

What about you, dear PSU reader? Are you happy to see Zipper rise again and brings its shooter expertise to a new project? Let us know in the comments section below.